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John Roberts' Supreme Court: An Assault on Civil Rights
For Politics365, Dr. Wilmer J. Leon argues that John Roberts is reigniting conservative activism. He describes the chief justice as the “new tip of an old iceberg.” The Warren Court is considered by many to have been the most “liberal” in the history of the Supreme Court. Warren gave us the Brown decision in 1954, the exclusionary…
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The Shooting Victims Are All Our Children
Writing at Your Black Bloggers, Dr. Wilmer J. Leon makes the case that we’re not doing nearly enough to keep the nation’s kids safe from harm. … The President is correct. We’re not doing enough. Elected representatives such as President Obama and NY Mayor Bloomberg have correctly said that these tragedies must end. Honestly, they…
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2nd-Term Opportunities for the Black Agenda
Writing at Black Star News, Dr. Wilmer J. Leon says that the question shouldn’t be “What should President Obama do for black America?” It should be “What will black America do for itself politically, and when?” … Now what? When you look at the electoral map of red states and blue states it becomes fairly…
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Warrant Likely on the Way for Zimmerman
Even though conventional wisdom says that the decision by Florida special prosecutor Angela Corey to not use a grand jury in the Trayvon Martin case reveals very little about future charges, George Zimmerman should check his mailbox. The warrant should be on the way. This formal investigation is taking a lot of time — many…
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MLK Was More Than a Dreamer
In the years since his assassination, I have been troubled by what I consider to be the co-opting of Martin Luther King Jr.’s vision. What has troubled me over the years is how his revolutionary message has been hijacked, compromised and relegated to being that of just a dreamer. People are comfortable with dreamers. Why?…
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Some Black Critics of Obama Are Right
Harvard Law School professor Randall Kennedy recently penned an opinion piece for CNN entitled “Why Obama’s Black Critics Are Wrong.” He contends that President Obama’s African-American critics have focused on his “racial bona fides” and that “throughout President Barack Obama’s political career, he has been dogged by … accusations that he is not ‘black enough.’…
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Don't Forget Blacks in the Deficit Struggle
Republicans have linked the issue of raising the debt ceiling to the deficit and are using the debt issue as a hammer to repeal three important social entitlement programs to which several conservative Republicans have been ideologically opposed from their inception. Since these programs became law in 1965, many of those Republicans have disliked the…
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Let's Not Be Distracted by Casey Anthony
Let me say at the outset that the death of 2-year-old Caylee Anthony, or the murder of any child, is a tragedy. Am I outraged at the verdict of not guilty of murder or manslaughter for Casey Anthony? No. Was Casey involved in the death and/or cover-up of Caylee? In my opinion, she probably was.…
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The Supreme Court Is Wrong on Soldiers' Funerals
The Supreme Court has ruled that the Westboro Baptist Church’s First Amendment right of free speech outweighs a grieving family’s right to privacy when they bury a loved one. Chief Justice John Roberts, writing for the 8-1 majority (pdf) in Snyder v. Phelps, said last week that the First Amendment protects “even hurtful speech on…